Of Friendship and Passion
by HannahScho
Summary: Season 3, episode 6 of "Anne with an E" left me with so many feelings and in an attempt to deal with them and make things feel at least a little bit right again, I came up with this tag to the episode. It picks up the same night the episode left off. Anne is printing her story and Gilbert comes to find her… One shot.


This story contains spoilers for season 3 of _Anne with an E_!

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Anne looked at the printed sheet with some satisfaction. She realized that what she had written, without specifically naming Josie, would be controversial to say the least but she didn't care. This had to be said. Women were not the playthings of men, women should not be shamed for the horrible actions of men, women had a right to be heard and not shoved aside. Just reading her words again made her feel indignant all over again and she used the angry energy to print more and more sheets. This was going to go everywhere, handed out all over town and people would be forced to understand a woman's perspective on these kinds of despicable male actions. She didn't pay any attention to the time, she just needed to get this done.

Anne was so concentrated on her task that she didn't even hear the schoolroom door open.

"Anne! There you are!" a voice exclaimed behind her and she gave a little squeak and almost jumped out of her skin. She turned around and was faced with an agitated Gilbert marching up to her.

"What on earth are you doing? Marilla and Matthew are sick with worry!" he said, a little too loudly.

"As no one seemed interested in doing the right thing and writing about what really matters, I thought I would do so myself," Anne said indignantly, waving a printed sheet in Gilbert's general direction.

"But does it have to be right now, in the middle of the night, worrying the people who… care about you?"

"Oh, people who care about me, eh? Is that why _you_ came looking for me?" she barked at him.

Gilbert was a little taken aback at the vehemence of her reaction. What had made her so angry at him of late, he wondered. "Matthew came to our house, looking for you. When he found you weren't there he said he'd ride out to the Barrys and I said I'd look in town… and here you are…"

"Yes, and I have just finished, so while you're here you can help me distribute these papers."

"No, I won't."

"No? Fine! I'll do it on my own then!"

"Listen, I need to get you home, Matthew and Marilla are so worried…" That deflated Anne for a moment and gave Gilbert the pause he needed to continue. "Distributing these in the morning will be good enough."

"Fine," Anne said, "Please help me gather these."

They piled all the sheets on Anne's desk in silence, she would be back first thing in the morning to make sure they were distributed, and Anne marched out of the building with Gilbert following her, after secretly taking one sheet and quickly folding it into his jacket.

Anne started marching in the direction of her home while Gilbert untied his horse.

"Ride with me," Gilbert said, "we'll be there quicker."

"I know the way, Gilbert, I'm good to walk."

"Anne, come on, it's late and dark, let me take you home!"

"I am no damsel in distress, I do not need to be saved."

"Believe me, I know that. I just want to get you home as soon as possible to save Marilla and Matthew any more worry."

"Fine!" Anne snapped and allowed herself to be hoisted up on the horse behind Gilbert. Only then did it register with her that she would actually have to hold on to Gilbert. She made ready to slide off the horse again.

"Hold on, Anne, don't fall off," he said, mistaking the intention of her movement.

"I know I'm clumsy, but I'm not that clumsy," Anne snapped again, "I just don't want to embarrass you by riding close to you, now that you are courting a sophisticated Charlottetown woman."

"We're not courting," Gilbert said between gritted teeth, then reached his hand behind him to settle Anne while at the same time getting the horse to move forward before she could hop off again. There was a reason why he hadn't quite known how to introduce Winnie to Anne, the relationship with Winnie didn't quite have a definition yet.

Anne in turn sat up rigidly straight behind him, fisting his coat in her hands so her arms wouldn't have to go around him. It made for a very wobbly beginning of the ride.

"Well, it looked to everyone like you are her beau. And she is beautiful and refined, you did well." Anne said, while concentrating on holding on to Gilbert without actually, well, holding on to him.

Gilbert remembered Anne at the fair telling him agitatedly that she wanted him to be happy with her, he presumed she meant Winnie. Was this really what it looked like to everyone? He knew it shouldn't surprise him, even Bash teased him about it, but it felt… wrong that everyone should think that.

"Winnie and I are just… friends, I guess," he said a little tersely.

"If you say so," he heard Anne say. Did she sound bitter? "All I heard was you saying that she was your… Winnifred."

"Are you saying that I don't know what kinds of relationships I have with the people in my life?" he asked, annoyed.

"Well, I suppose you do know who your 'classmates' and 'family friends' are…" Anne mumbled against his back.

"Pardon?" Gilbert asked and shifted a little uneasily on the horse. He had understood her mumble perfectly well but felt uncomfortable acknowledging it. Maybe he shouldn't have introduced Anne to Winnie as merely a 'classmate and family friend' but the Rose family might have misconstrued his meaning if he had only said 'friend'. And were he and Anne really friends, he wondered, not for the first time? Yes, they saw each other and talked to each other but truly being friends was more than being friendly with each other when you happened to bump into each other, wasn't it?

"Never mind," Anne answered as she too shifted her position.

"Anne, please hold on to me properly, or you will fall," Gilbert then said, hoping to steer the conversation into a different direction. Also, the horse was walking slowly and he couldn't accelerate with Anne situated so precariously behind him.

"I'm fine."

"Anne… be sensible for once!"

"Well, thank you for your honest opinion of me, Gilbert Blythe! I'm sorry I don't live up to your ideal of sensible behaviour!" she snapped.

Gilbert sighed. Apparently nothing he could say would be the right thing.

"Suit yourself," he mumbled and let the horse walk even slower.

"I can walk faster than this on foot…" Anne complained after a minute or so of silence.

"If you want to speed this up, you need to hold on to me properly," he said through gritted teeth. Why did everything have to be so difficult with Anne? Being with Winnie was never this difficult.

He heard Anne sigh behind him and then finally lean in and slide her arms around his waist, her hands crossing each other over his stomach, her head finding a resting place against his back. Did she feel the somersault in his stomach he inexplicably felt at that moment? Why was there always this undercurrent of… something there when he was close to Anne like that? Why was she always able to affect him so?

Anne leaned her head against Gilbert's back and closed her eyes as she felt the horse finally pick up a little speed. Best to get this over with as soon as possible. She breathed in the scent of Gilbert's jacket and, against her better judgement, felt herself relax against him. She shouldn't allow her feelings to go soft again for Gilbert, he had dashed all of her secret hopes and dreams and had broken her heart after all! But he was Gilbert, handsome and smart, and although misguided he was also caring. If she had learned anything about him when Mary died it was that he cared deeply and it was that caring side of him which had softened her heart towards him in the first place. Holding onto him like this on the horse reminded her of when she had embraced him when Mary was dying and he had crushed her to him in response. From that moment something had really shifted between them and they had become… friends of sorts. Maybe that was what she needed to hold on to, and forget forever that for a brief moment she had wanted more.

"You're awfully quiet, Anne," Gilbert said after a while. "Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine."

"You know you can talk to me… as your friend, I will always listen."

"You didn't seem to listen when I told you of the importance of issues concerning an entire gender," she muttered against him, but he heard.

"You weren't talking to me then, you were yelling at me."

"Yes, it's always the hysterical woman's fault, I know!" Anne retorted, feeling anger slowly bubble up again inside her.

Gilbert sighed. "Anne, please tell me what I did to upset you?"

"You don't take what has happened to Josie seriously enough! Billy gets away with awful behaviour, gets pats on the back even, and Josie is stuck with the humiliation and injustice of it all."

"You don't know what really happened there, Anne."

"I do know what happened, I could see it all over her face, just after she came back inside… I recognized the hurt and humiliation, Gilbert, and the feeling of being unfairly judged for something that is not your fault. Not to mention that I know what despicable things callous men like Billy are capable of."

Gilbert's breath caught in his throat for a moment and he felt a brief moment of pain in his chest at her words. Had she experienced something like that in her own past, before she had come to Green Gables? Gilbert now realized with full impact that she must have witnessed and experienced things which must have been traumatic for her in her younger years and his heart ached for her.

Anne continued, "Miss Stacey said that in the… erm… steps to courting a woman has to give her consent. Josie did not give her consent."

"But she went outside with him…"

"Yes, and she trusted him and then she said 'no' and he didn't listen to her and he pushed on! You know the kind of person Billy is and I know how to read Josie. He forced himself on her and that is inexcusable!"

It hit Gilbert right then and there that Anne was right, completely right. Knowing her true heart, trusting her experiences and judgement, and knowing exactly the kind of person Billy was, he couldn't help but believe her. Once he believed her he also came to understand her indignation. No woman should have to do anything with a man against her will! And the betrayal was even bigger if it happened with a man you trusted! He was lost for words for a few moments, only now fully understanding the impact of what had happened between Josie and Billy. If a woman told him no at any point, he would never dream of… and he knew Billy would, Billy had always been a bully. When Gilbert had first met Anne, he had interrupted a bullying situation and now shuddered to think what could have happened with Anne if he hadn't stepped in when he did. Gilbert briefly squeezed Anne's hands that were still crossed over his stomach.

"Oh my goodness, you're right," he then said quietly, "Billy had no right and this is serious."

Anne felt tears welling up in her eyes over his small touch and his soft admission. It meant a lot to her that Gilbert understood.

Anne swallowed away the lump in her throat and said, "I need to fight for justice over this. It is so important, Gilbert!"

"I will help in any way I can, I will help distribute your papers tomorrow morning," Gilbert answered, with the Green Gables farm now coming up in sight. Gilbert stopped the horse and Anne slid down. He immediately missed her closeness and warmth.

"Thank you. And thanks for coming to get me, Gilbert," she then said and immediately turned to run to the house. "Marilla! I'm here and I'm fine!" she shouted and the front door opened with Marilla coming outside, running to meet Anne.

Matthew came riding in at that moment.

"You found her!" he said in his soft, gentle way after he rode up to Gilbert. "Where was she?"

"At school, printing a paper and fighting for justice," Gilbert smiled.

Matthew smiled back. "Of course, she was. My fearless and passionate Anne always has her heart in the right place. I am grateful you were able to get her to come home."

"It was my pleasure, Matthew. Tell her and Marilla goodnight for me. I'll ride by the Barrys, tell them everything is alright and Bash will also be wondering what's happening."

"Thank you, Gilbert. Goodnight."

As he set off, a million thoughts about Anne ran through Gilbert's head. She must have had such a difficult start to life and yet here she was being fearless and passionate and she did indeed always have her heart in the right place. How could anyone be so fearless and full of life after all she must have faced? Maybe that was why he liked her so much, she didn't put on any airs and graces, she led with her honest heart, she never did anything by halves and always, always stood on the side of fairness and justice. She was headstrong and there often seemed to be no filter. He would say she wore her heart on her sleeve except he knew that wasn't always true because sometimes she could get so passionate and angry about something and he wouldn't understand why. Above all, she challenged him, she made him think about things differently, just like tonight with the situation surrounding Josie. No one else challenged, exasperated but also amused him like Anne did. He thought of the mishap with the cake at the fair again and smiled.

That night, just before he went to sleep, Gilbert unfolded the paper Anne had printed and read what she had written. He felt pride for her swell in his chest when he read her beautiful, heartfelt words and realized instantly what commotion this would cause in Avonlea. But he wouldn't dream of stopping her, instead he would stand beside her all the way. Wait till he told Winnie about this! Winnie was somewhat unconventional as well, the way she talked with Mr Bones reminded him of Anne in a way, when Anne was speaking of poetry or fantasy stories thinking she was safe from being overheard. Winnie never really challenged him like Anne did and he never got into arguments with her but she too amused him. Would this be something he could discuss in all openness with her? Or would she just prettily agree with him and move on, just like she had done when he had once voiced his doubts about the medical profession to her? For the first time since knowing Winnie he felt an unease about her. She was lovely and funny and taught him etiquette, but what was she really passionate about? He needed to find out. He was starting to realize that being able to show passion was something that mattered to him. If being passionate made things a little more difficult in a relationship, was that necessarily a bad thing? Didn't growth come from a little difficulty? With Winnifred he was in calm waters, but did he really want to be in calm waters all his life? He didn't allow himself to think of what being with someone like Anne would be like. Anne was always angry with him, after all, so what would even be the point of thinking… never mind… he needed to sleep now if he was to get up early tomorrow to help Anne with the papers…

Anne, staring at the ceiling in her bed that night, replayed the ride home with Gilbert in her head. Winnifred was only a friend he had said, but could that really be true? "Stop it!" she reprimanded herself, "Stop wasting your time thinking about things that will never be! Gilbert will never see you that way! Maybe no man ever will but there are so many other, more important, things to fight for! I'll just focus on those!" Focusing on those other things made her think of the paper that would have to be distributed first thing in the morning and it helped knowing that Gilbert would be there for her. She tried to sweep all thoughts of Winnifred aside. Gilbert had been through enough in his life, he should be happy. He should be friends, or more, with whomever he wanted to be without getting any grief from her about it and she herself would be alright with being just friends with him, even if only a 'family friend'. As long as she'd never have to dance with him again she would be fine…


End file.
